Archive for the 'Lovey Dovey' Category

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When my hubby and I were dating and before we were married, my Christmas gift from him would always be a surprise. After we moved away, the holidays always involved a long and complicated trip to see relatives, dividing our time equally between his and mine, so our Christmas gifts for each other were awesome, but not surprising. They were exchanged before we left for our trip, without much fanfare. It’s hard to keep secrets from the person who reconciles the receipts. And, I really don’t mind knowing. I truly believe it’s the thought that counts, and he’s so thoughtful with his gifts.

I mean, I’m not complaining. It was just different, and it was the way it was.

This year, we decided to stay home for the holidays and start our own traditions with Claire. What people say is true: seeing the holiday through the eyes of a child really is a great thing. Since she’s just two years old, she can recognize Santa, but she’s not old enough to really be excited about the holiday.

Staying home for the holidays and not having to travel has also paved the way for an exciting turn of events: Super-secret surprise presents.

A couple weeks ago, my hubby got a glint in his eye and told me not to peek at any of the statements online. He said he, Claire and Santa were in cahoots, and they’d found some things to get me. He timed things so that the receipts were already reconciled for the month when he made his purchases, so I had no excuses to be poking around. He told me that packages were going to be delivered to the house, and I had strict orders to behave.

Secret packages. A surprise.
This was so exciting! I could get used to this!

Yesterday, a small mountain of packages arrived at our door. I was a good little girl and didn’t even look at the labels on any of the boxes. They sat on the landing all day, and my hubby ushered them off to the basement when he got home from work, a tube of wrapping paper in one hand and a pair of scissors and a roll of tape in another.

“He’s wrapping something downstairs! Right now! For me! And I don’t know what it is!” I thought, as I tried to busy myself with other things. It was incredibly difficult to contain my excitement.

When he came upstairs with his arms full, it was all I could do to not grab packages and start shaking them. I maintained my composure. I haven’t shaken a single one…yet. 😉

He handed me some smaller wrapped ones and told me to hide them in my office closet with the rest of the contents of Santa’s bag.

Ooooooooooooooh, I can’t wait for Christmas! 🙂

I already know I’m going to love whatever it is. He doesn’t realize this, but he’s already given me an awesome Christmas present: He’s rekindled the excitement I felt when I was a kid, and I can’t wait for Santa to get here.

Today marks the seventh anniversary
of the day
we ran to the courthouse,
legally tied the knot and
hopped a plane to Vegas to celebrate.

November 15, 2000 – the day we went on record

It’s hard to believe we’ve been together almost ELEVEN years.

February 11, 1997 – the day I knew it was real

Through all the ups and downs, I wouldn’t change a thing,
because it all has made us who we are,
and I love who we are.
I love that you love who we are.

Even though things have changed over the years,
our lives are just as hectic now as they were seven years ago…
And almost eleven years ago…
But, our lives are different.
And, yet they are the same.

Almost two years ago
we added someone
to this bond
we created so many years ago.
Every day I look at her
and silently thank you for being who you are,
because without you, she wouldn’t be here.
Without you, I wouldn’t be here.

We live on a cul-de-sac that overlooks a very pretty lake.Years ago, when we were house hunting, we had no idea this lake even existed, even though it wasn’t too terribly far from where our apartment was.It’s tucked back in a subdivision, and you can’t see it from any major roadways.We decided to take a street we’d never taken before, and that’s when we saw the lake and then found a house for sale just up the street.

We love the lake.

Tonight, when the sun went down behind the mountain, it really started to cool off.We’d just gotten done with dinner, so we decided to take Claire to the lake.We’ve taken her to the lake before, but she’s always ridden in the stroller.This time, she insisted on walking, but we knew she wouldn’t be able to do the full mile-and-a-half around, so we brought the stroller along, too.

We head off down the hill, and her little feet are going a mile a minute.She was so good about holding my hand and having a great time going top speed.I carried her across the street to get to the sidewalk by the lake and put her down.

And, we were off!Momma was holding Claire’s hand.Claire was running as fast as she could, and Daddy was pushing the stroller.

A ton of people were there this evening, and a lot of them were walking dogs.Claire loves dogs, and all the dogs she met tonight were very friendly.We quickly walked by the ones that were questionable.🙂

She had a great time looking at the water and watching the geese and the ducks.There is a really cool playground on the other side of the lake, but we opted to visit another time.

As expected, her little legs started to give out, so we put her in the stroller.She didn’t even balk at being strapped in.I think we’d run the energy right out of her!She’d made it almost a quarter of the way around, and that’s like the equivalent of three miles to a toddler!

The sunset was gorgeous behind the mountains, and it reminded us of why we moved here.We could have lived anywhere, and we chose to live here.I looked at Daddy pushing Claire in the stroller, and I saw my two favorite people in the whole world.